Significant “Historical Beverages” programs for 2023 are as follows:

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Colonial Tavern Night

March 25, 5pm -12am

Fort Mifflin on the Delaware
6400 Hog Island Rd
Philadelphia, PA 19153

Experience the ambiance of a colonial-era tavern in Philadelphia when Fort Mifflin hosts the Cannonball Tavern, complete with authentic beverages and hearty tavern fare, tavern games, the warm glow of a cozy fire and the company of civilians and soldiers of the era. 

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PRESIDENT’S PLATE: DOLLEY MADISON AS HOSTESS FOR TWO PRESIDENTS

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Fort Mifflin

April 8, 10am – 4pm

Fort Mifflin on the Delaware
6400 Hog Island Rd
Philadelphia, PA 19153

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Explore the Washington traditions established during Dolley Madison’s extraordinary 16-year term as national hostess for the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. What was it like to attend one of her famous salons? Learn the manners necessary to interact with political and society leaders of the early 19th century, discover how to properly set a table and sample a treat that Dolley served frequently. Learn how Washington’s social scene evolved over her tenure as hostess and first lady and discover the impact of her style and political instincts.

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Regimental Brewmeister in the Field

April 29 — 10am – 5pm

Bolton Mansion Open House
85 Holly Drive
Levittown, PA 19055

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Regimental Brewmeister in the Field

May 13 — 10am – 5pm

Thompson Neely House
1635 River Rd
New Hope, PA 18938

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Regimental Brewmeister in the Field

May 20 — 10am – 5pm

A Day in Old New Castle
50 Market Street
New Castle, DE 19720

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Brewing Class — Learn to Brew Like a Colonial

June 3 — 10am – 5pm

Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation
1023 Sycamore Mills Rd
Media, PA 19063

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Cider Making Workshop at Fort Mifflin

September 10, 10am – 4pm

Fort Mifflin on the Delaware
6400 Hog Island Rd
Philadelphia, PA 19153

Cider has a long and rich history in America.  It was the beverage of choice from the first English settlers in the 16th Century until well into the late 19th Century.  When the Mayflower suffered beam damaged in a storm badly enough to consider turning back to England, a large iron screw was taken from an apple press and fashioned as a brace so that the ship could continue to its destination in New England.  When the apple trees they planted thrived and the barley and grains they planted for beer struggled, cider cemented its place as the top beverage in early America.

The Regimental Brewmeister has long made cider from pressed commercial juices.  This is good cider but lacks some of the authenticity that we hope to imbue into the beverages we make.  To this end, we have acquired and build a cider making set-up based on an early 19th Century design.  Because of the mechanical nature of extracting juice from apples, this has a bit of a modern look but we hope that you can look beyond that and join us in traditional cider making as it would have been done by the household of John and Abigale Adams at Braintree in the 1770’s.

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Brewing Class — Learn to Brew Like a Colonial

September 30 — 10am – 5pm

Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation
1023 Sycamore Mills Rd
Media, PA 19063

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Colonial Tavern during Siege Weekend

Nov 11-12, 10am – 4pm

Fort Mifflin on the Delaware
6400 Hog Island Rd
Philadelphia, PA 19153

Colonial Brewer will become Admiral of the Blue Apron yet again and host a loyalist tavern. Experience the ambiance of a colonial-era tavern during the Siege of Fort Mifflin complete with authentic beverages and hearty tavern fare, tavern games, the warm glow of a cozy fire and the company of civilians and the King’s finest soldiers. You may even meet a pirate or two…

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Regimental Brewmeister in the Field

November 4 — 10am – 5pm

First State Heritage Park’s 18th Century Market Fair
43 The Green
Dover, DE 19901

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18th Century Cocktails Class

December 2 — 5pm – 1opm

Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation
1023 Sycamore Mills Rd
Media, PA 19063

Tavern accounts, personal diaries, letters and journals show that drinking as a form of entertainment was very popular in the 18th Century.  Beer, cider, and wine as well as spirits like rum and whisky were common drinks but by 1720 a new class of drink made its way onto tavern menu boards – the cocktail.  Today we will explore, hands-on, the history and preparations of several of these drinks to give you a fuller understanding of high-end entertaining in the 1700’s. 

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Brewing Class — Learn to Brew Like a Colonial

December 30, 10am – 4pm
During “Winter Encampment”

Fort Mifflin on the Delaware
6400 Hog Island Rd
Philadelphia, PA 19153

Join the Regimental Brewmeister for a unique opportunity to experience the art and craft of 18th century brewing. This class will mash he grain, brew the mash over the fire in true 18th century fashion and sample some beer previously brewed in this same manner. Learn about beer’s place at the early American table and what really happened in colonial taverns.

Price will be $90/person and this will include more Colonial Beer than you should drink.. If you’ve never attended one of our Colonial Brewing Classes you are missing a real treat. At the demonstrations, I prepare beer and all you get to do is observe. In our brewing classes, YOU ARE THE BREWER, and we coach.

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A Truly Astronomical Event

The 18th Century Scientist Observes a Solar Eclipse
April 8, 2024
11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Fort Mifflin on the Delaware
6400 Hog Island Rd
Philadelphia, PA 19153

The total solar eclipse of June 24, 1778 was the first to be carefully observed in the newly founded United States. David Rittenhouse, witnessed the eclipse from Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson also tried to see this eclipse but was frustrated by clouds in Virginia. He later wrote Rittenhouse remarking on the eclipse. “We were much disappointed in Virginia generally on the day of the great eclipse, which proved to be cloudy. In Williamsburg, where it was total, I understand only the beginning was seen. At this place which is in Lat. 38 degrees-8′ and Longitude West from Williamsburg, it was not seen at all till the moon had advanced nearly one third over the sun’s disc.” 

Two years later during the eclipse of October 27, 1780, an eclipse expedition was sent from Harvard University to Penobscot Bay in Maine and negotiated safe passage with the British forces occupying that area. Because of an error in his tables of the apparent motions of the Sun and Moon, this expedition missed moment of totality.

During the 18th Century, Total Solar eclipses in 16 different years (1707, 1714, 1725, 1729, 1736, 1743, 1747, 1750, 1754, 1758, 1765, 1772, 1776, 1783, 1790, and 1794) were observed within the British Empire.  These events sparked not only a strong advancement in the understanding of how our Solar System worked but great upheavals in the social and religious fabric of the western world. 

A total solar eclipse happens when the moon lies exactly between the Sun and the Earth, casting its shadow on a small patch of the Earth’s surface. Those who make their way to the “path of totality” will see the moon gradually slide in front of the sun, reducing it to a thin crescent and then finally blotting the sun out altogether.  For a few brief but spectacular minutes, the sun’s wispy outer atmosphere, known as the corona, becomes visible, while the landscape down below turns nearly as dark as night.  On April 8, 2024, this will happen along a path that goes through Erie Pennsylvania.  While we at Fort Mifflin are not in that path, we are agonizingly close and expect to see an 85% total eclipse of the Sun.

If you can be in the Path of Totality, that is wonderful.  For the rest of us, we will be setting up an 18^th Century observation post atop the walls at Fort Mifflin.  In addition to the opportunity to observe this phenomenon in the sky, we anticipate another phenomenon to occur within the depths of our casemates and buildings during and immediately following the eclipse.

Many people believe that the aligning of the sun and the moon heightens our emotions and behaviors.  Similarly, our team of 18th C Scientist will explore whether this affects the fort’s spirits as well.  Are Fort Mifflin’s ghosts more active following an eclipse.  If we have the right tools, we should be able to observation and study this as well.  We will turn the tools of science, namely objective inquiry and observation, toward monitoring ghost activity immediately following the eclipse.

This promises to be a once in a lifetime event (unless you’re a ghost and then who knows…)